Anyone who’s eaten at the legendary Zilouf’s in Upper Street will be expecting big things from their new venture, 100 Hoxton – and they won’t be disappointed.

As its name suggests, the restaurant sits in a rather unpromising stretch of Hoxton Street (number 100) which was probably devoid of any café culture a decade ago and is a touch on the bleak side even now – though it’s a sign of the times that one of the most innovative cocktail bars in London is just a few doors up.

At 8pm on the Wednesday night of our visit it was pretty dead, but by nine it was bustling. We supped a couple of the excellent cocktails while perusing a menu divided into garden, land, large, ocean and bits.

The waitress staved off our uncertainty about the amount to order by pointing out the rather fetching £15 meal deal which includes a dish from each category to share in a tapas style – all of which turned out to be very good.

Character

The roasted butternut and avocado was smothered in smooth quinoa, salty feta cheese, sour yogurt and crunchy coriander seeds, making for a veritable carnival of character.

Next up, the grilled bream came wrapped elegantly in banana leaf, with firm oceanic flakes yielding to the fork and swimming with flavour – that was before the lively tamarind relish brought the dish to simmering point.

Meanwhile, the beggar’s chicken was moist and juicy, cut into sections and then seasoned to your taste with a gorgeous shallot and ginger sauce and garlic.

Finally the duck. These were thin, very rare pieces of tender poultry, which came screaming at your pallet when dunked in the on-trend courgette kimchee.

The dessert, a plum clafoutis, was a little moribund but, make no mistake, this meal really was a brilliant culinary experience and very hard to fault.

Inventive but unfussy and oh so satisfying – put 100 Hoxton in your diary now.